The present invention is directed to novel louvered assemblies for closing or obscuring an opening, and more particularly relates to modifications to conventional louver assemblies to improve the aesthetic appearance of the assembly without impairing its integrity of function.
An early louvered assembly, commonly referred to as a venetian blind, consists of a number of horizontal slats that can be set simultaneously to varying degrees of slant so as to change the amount of light admitted and the view seen through an opening. Recently vertical louvered systems have become popular. Recent improvements that have been suggested are directed toward aesthetic quality, appearance or fashion imparted to an otherwise drab but necessary mechanism for controlling light or privacy through the view of the opening in which it is placed. A fundamental requirement of the slats, which generally are thin, elongate members, employed in louvered systems is that they must sustain their shape when brought together in alignment so as to completely and continuously occlude the openings. In order to avoid curling, the louver slats can be curved laterally in the narrow dimension so as to provide additional rigidity to the slats. Decorating modifications of horizontal slats generally are restricted to lightweight, thin webs which are attached to the slats, but do not alter the slat structure and strength properties of the slats.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,074,482 granted in 1937 to Ernest Martens discloses a decorative improvement to the slats of a venetian blind. The slats are made of rigid, transparent composition wherein an opening or slot within the slat accepts a removable decorative filler or insert. The insert is opaque or translucent to an extent that a decorative design can be contrasted against the incident light through the opening. Many types of filler materials are described which permit changing the appearance of the assembly from time to time as one desires. The fillers impart a design or coloration to an otherwise transparent slat. Without the fillers, the slats would not serve the purpose of adjustably occluding the light or the view through the opening.
Vertical louvered assemblies, which recently have become popular comprise relatively thin, elongated vertical hanging slats which are suspended and depend vertically from a mechanism which aligns and orients the slats. Typically the depending slats overlap slightly and can be rotated in unison to infinitely adjust the light or view through the opening. The slats are made from a wide variety of materials including extruded vinyl strips and are optionally decorated by attaching webs, narrow woven or slit fabrics, or laminated films. Closely related to the present invention are elaborate vertical slat assemblies involving the familiar combinations of a slat member and a decorative member which is inserted thereupon to the face, back or both sides of the slat with attachment means.
The vertical louver described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,038 comprises lateral inwardly facing flanges on one or both faces of the slat which will receive an insert such as a strip of wallpaper or fabric.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,980 incorporates improved transparent flange portions of a similar configuration. In commercial practice the louver is coextruded with the opaque flat portion positioned between the flanges. Materials employed for louvers of this type often are polyvinyl chloride polymers.
Owing to the commercial success of the flanged louver described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,038, there have been further enhancements which relate to improving the aesthetic appearance of the louvers. Current commercial approaches focus on the decorative treatment of inserts for vinyl or metal louvers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,958 is directed to laminated inserts for use in vertical blind slat assemblies. The method involves laminating a stranded layer such as a fabric to at least a second layer and adhering or removably joining this laminate to a slat member. Laminates can also be attached to both front and back faces of the slat member. The advantage to a retailer separately assembling the laminated inserts and the slat members enables one to inventory one or a relatively few number of slat styles in relation to a large number of insert laminates of varying design and appearance.
Another approach for changing the decor of louver panel inserts is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,680. Multiple clear or translucent tinted films for attachment to flanged louvers are disclosed. Variations in color are achieved by removably attaching one or more inserts each of which have different colors and together form a new color.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,435 discloses a method for making slats utilizing two folded fabric strips which make up the front and back faces of the louver. The strips may be joined by a heat activatable bonding material. An additional method of bonding that is described involves thermal or radio frequency bonding of the frontal and backing material directly. The frontal and backing material can be identical in substance, texture or color or they may be of dissimilar substance, texture or color. The bonding material used for bonding the backing and frontal strips is an adhesive or a separate lamina having adhesive properties which can be activated by heat sealing methods. A non-woven scrim fabric or bonding web is suggested. After the entire assembly is brought into position for instance, on a continuous assembly device, it is permanently bonded or set thus precluding movement of the components out of their assembled position. The laminated front and back panels have sufficient body and integrity so as to meet the general requirements of a slat for vertical louver system.
In those instances where inserts are combined with the slat member to modify its appearance, a portion of the slat member still is revealed such as along the side and outward face of the slat where only one insert is placed against the front side of the slat. Also, if the slat is flanged on both sides and frontal inserts are attached, the lateral edges of the slat nevertheless are visible. If the lateral edges are transparent, the edges may be unobtrusive, but still are visible. As such, the overall appearance is that of an elongate plastic member which has one or more decorative attachments. These assemblies, cannot provide the numerous aesthetic features of a continuous web such as a textile fabric web. Conversely, materials typically used for inserts such as textile fabrics or paper do not possess the desired physical properties such as rigidity and resistance to curling to function as a louver slat per se. If these flimsy materials are used as a slat structure, they must be treated with permanent sizing or laminated with reinforcing layers in order to meet the required performance requirements as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,435. Much of the aesthetic value and soft handle characteristics of the fabric are lost by such treatments.
It accordingly would be desirable to devise a louver assembly which provides the appearance and aesthetic qualities of a continuous web such as a fabric web structure, that possesses the necessary physical properties such as rigidity and resistance to curling without sizing or other treatment.